December 2004 in Sports - December 15, 2004

December 15, 2004

• NBA:
  • Carmelo Anthony makes a shot with 3.6 seconds left in the game, and Paul Pierce misses a subsequent three-point shot attempt, as the Denver Nuggets defeat the Boston Celtics, 100–99. Andre Miller of the Nuggets made a shot from the opponent's free throw line as time expired during the first quarter, but the shot was discounted because it was apparently taken after time had expired in that quarter.(NBA)
  • The defending-champion Detroit Pistons defeat the New York Knicks, 94–93, at New York, when Chauncey Billups makes two free throws with less than three seconds to go. The Pistons were down by 16 points, 56–40, at halftime. Pistons coach Larry Brown records his 944th win as a coach, tying Bill Fitch for 4th in NBA history. (NBA)
  • Dan Dickau makes a three-point shot as the third quarter is winding down and gets fouled, making the free throw for a four-point play in what would eventually be the New Orleans Hornets' first home victory of the season, a 98–89 defeat of the Golden State Warriors. The Hornets also snap an eleven-game losing streak. (NBA)
  • Steve Francis misses a three-point shot as time runs off, and the San Antonio Spurs hold on for a 94–91 win over the Orlando Magic. (NBA)
  • Jeff McInnis and Drew Gooden complete an unlikely five-point play with time running down in the third quarter (McInnis made a three-point shot, followed by a steal and a basket by Gooden) as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 112–88. The Cavaliers extend their home winning streak to nine games, their longest home winning streak since 1993. (NBA)
• Boxing: Oscar De La Hoya announces plans to return to the Welterweight division, where he was the WBC world champion from 1997 to 1999 and in 2000. (AOL)
• Tennis: Rumors spread that former tennis star Anna Kournikova has secretly married her long-time boyfriend, Enrique Iglesias.(AOL)
• Biathlon: The men's 10 km Sprint at WC 3 in Östersund, Sweden, ends with Stian Eckhoff (NOR) getting his first World Cup race victory, and with the runner-up, teammate Frode Andresen, making his best result this season, using 10 seconds more than Eckhoff. Sergei Rozhkov (Сергей Рожков) of Russia gets the third place, 1 second after Andresen. (IBU/EBU results)
• Cross-country skiing: In the World Cup 6×1.2 km classical technique Team Sprint event in Asiago, Italy, the ladies' race results in an all-Nordic podium, as it is won by Norway I, (Marit Bjørgen, Ella Gjømle), one second before Finland I (Aino Kaisa Saarinen, Virpi Kuitunen), while Sweden I (Elin Ek, Anna Dahlberg) finishes third. (FIS-Ski results) The men's race is won by Norway I (Tor Arne Hetland, Jens Arne Svartedal), finishing roughly 3 seconds before Russia I (Nikolai Pankratov, Vassili Rotchev) (Николай Панкратов, Вассили Ротчев), who comes in 3 seconds in front of Norway II (Trond Iversen, Børre Næss). (FIS-Ski results)
• Cricket: The England and Wales Cricket Board announces new broadcasting deals with BSkyB, Five, the BBC and TalkSPORT. From 2006 to 2009, all England home test matches and One Day Internationals, plus domestic competition coverage will be televised on Sky Sports, with highlights on Five. Test Match Special survives, as the BBC retains exclusive rights for radio coverage to home internationals, and non-exclusive rights to domestic county games. TalkSPORT has won non-exclusive rights to radio coverage of Twenty20 games. The deals will earn English cricket £220m over 2006–09. (ECB)
• Football (soccer):
  • 2004 Tiger Cup championship, First Round
    • Group A: Thailand 3–0 Laos
    • Group A: Cambodia 0–3 Singapore
  • UEFA Cup Group Stage, Matchday 5
    • Group E: Middlesbrough 3–0 Partizan Belgrade
    • Group E: Villarreal 4–0 Egaleo
    • Group F: Rangers 0–2 Auxerre
    • Group F: Grazer AK 2 – 0 AZ Alkmaar
    • Group G: Heerenveen 1 – 0 Beveren
    • Group G: VfB Stuttgart 2 – 1 Dinamo Zagreb
    • Group H: Lille 1 – 0 Sevilla
    • Group H: AEK Athens 0 – 2 Alemannia
    • Teams in bold qualify for the knock-out round (3 from each group). In Group G Benfica have already qualified. (UEFA.com)